Shoe closure



NOV. 23, 1948- NICHOLS 2,454,335

SHOE CLOSURE Filed July 19, 1947 INVENTOR. f/A Y0! lV/CHOL. s

A 7' TOR/YE)- Patented Nov. 23, 1948 tn-TED STATES. PATENT 2,454,335 OFFICE snon CLOSURE Hayden Nichols, Salt Lake City, Utah Application July 19, 1947, Serial No. 762,096

2 Claims. (Cl. 24140) This invention relates to improvements in shoe closures and has reference to, a method of lacing shoes, more particularly shoes, of the type usually referred to as oxfords, and slippers or various kinds, and can be used with any style or type of laced shoe, but is especially suitable for use with women's children's and infants shoes, sport shoes, 'galoshes and almost all other kinds of footwear.

It is the principal object of this invention to produce a closure by means of which the shoe can be quickly and easily laced and unlaced and which does not require the tieing or untieing of knots.

A further object of the invention is to produce a a closure of the laced type, that can not be accidently opened, since it employs no knots.

Another object of the invention is to produce a closure that can be adjusted to obtain the most comfortable position of the shoe and which will retain such adj ustment..

A further object is to produce a closure that will assure a preadjusted snug fit at all times.

Another object is to eliminate all danger of accidents due to untied shoe strings.

A still further object is to produce a closure that a child can fasten and unfasten without aid from others.

The above and other objects that may appear as this description proceeds are attained by means of a construction and an arrangement of parts that will now be described in detail and for this purpose reference will be had to the accompanying drawing in which the invention has been illustrated and in which:

Figure .l is a fragmentary front elevation of a shoe showing one embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a view similar to that shown in Figure 1 and shows the invention applied to a specifically different shoe construction;

maximum, the shoe can readily be applied to and removed from the foot. The loops are endless and are connected to the draw tongue 13 at points Id.

The connection may be made in any suitable manner and in the drawing the point of connec-- tion has been indicated by a circle.

After the shoe has been applied to the foot, the

wearer grasps the lower end of the draw tongue and pulls it downwardly. The draw tongue is provided with one part l5 of a two-part fastener, the other part is carried by the shoe and has been designated by reference numeral It, all as shown in Figure 6.

g The particular fastening means shown is merely illustrative and may be replaced by any other I mechanical equivalent, such as a button.

The lengths of the loops are adjusted when the shoe is purchased or at any other time, so as to fit the shoe properly to the foot and thereafter the adjustment will remain almost the ame because the loops retain their adjusted lengths. By this means the shoe is always laced with the same degree of tightness or looseness, as distinguished from the ordinary lacing where the tension is, as a rule, different every time. The

amount of adjustment that can be obtained by means of this arrangement is dependent upon the distance the draw tongue can be moved and Figure 3 is a fragmentary view showing a portion of the shoe upper with a modified form of closure;

Figure 4 is a view showing a modification of the construction illustrated in Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a view. showing another modification; and A Figure 6 is a section taken on line 6-6, Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawing, reference nulace, a separate loop of lace is used for each pair of eyelets, these loops having been designated by reference numeral !2. The loops are of such length that when they are stretched out to their the draw tongue can be provided with a plurality of fastener elements IS in the manner shown in Figure 3. However, afterproperly adjusting the length of the loops to a given position of the draw tongue, the adjustment originally decided on will be maintained.

In the above description, which relates to Figure 1, the lacing has been shown in connection with an oxford type of shoe, but it can, of course,

be applied to specifically different types of shoes. In Figure 2 the invention has been shown as applied to an ordinary house slipper. In this type of shoe the uppers are provided with one eyelet each and a single loop of lace. The draw tongue can be cut so as to have an ornamental appearance and be provided with the fastener element shown in Figure 1.

The length of the loop is adjusted to fit the foot of the wearer and thereafter the lace can be tightened or loosened very readily by moving the tongue so as to offset one side of the loop and then fastening it to the shoe upper by means of the fastener elements described andshown or by 1 other suitable means.

In Figure 4 a portion of a shoe constructed in the manner shown in Figure 2 has been illustrated. The difference between Figures 2 and 4 is that in Figure 2 the lace is attached to the draw tongue and the latter is moved downwardly to tighten the lace. In Figure 4 the uppers are connected by means of a strap I! of rather stiff leather, or it may evenbe made from fiber or from metal; one end of this strap is secured to the upper on' one side of the opening by means of stitching He and the other end is provided with one part of a two-part snap fastener, which has been designated by reference numeral Id. The lace is provided with one part of a snap ia-stener which cooperates with the other snap fastener carried by bar l1. In this embodiment the tongue l3 may be fastened to the shoe in the usual manner.

Another embodiment of the invention has been illustrated in Figure 3 where a single lace is employed. In this construction the tongue has been provided with a pair of eyelets lla corresponding to each pair of eyelet-s on the. shoe. One endof the lace is anchored to the tongue at eyelet l lb and the other is anchored at eyelet llc.

It will be observed that the lace extends from eyelet llb through the corresponding eyelet in the shoe upper and thence crosses over and passes through the lower eyelet lla and thence passes upwardly in the manner indicated by full and dotted lines in the drawing, the other end of the lace being anchored at He.

In Figure 3 of the drawing, the parts have been 5 shown in laced or tightened position. The uppers of the shoe have purposely been spread apart so as to disclose the arrangement in the clearest manner possible. In this modification, a single lace is employed. However, the operation is substantially similar to that shown in the others because the horizontal portions of the lace and the downwardly inclined ends form in effect a loop similar to that shown in Figure 1. It is also apparent that instead of having two rows of eyelets lla and llb, a single row could be provided in the center of the draw tongue in which case the arrangement would be practically identical with that shown in Figure 1. In Figure 3 three fasteners l5 have been shown to effect three separate adjustments.

In Figure 5 a still different modification has been shown. In this embodiment the tongue l3 is fastened to the shoe in the ordinary manner and the uppers are provided with the usual number of eyelets. A single lace is employed, threaded through the-eyelets in the manner shown. The shoe uppers are provided with two ordinary lacing hooks l8 and after the shoe lace has been tightened by exerting tension on the long loops f9, they are crossed over, as shown, and fastened underneath the hooks l8. With this arrangement the amount of slack in the lace can be as large as desired and is only limited by the distance that hooks l8 are placed from the edges of the uppers. It is evident that when loops l9 are removed from the hooks, the two parts of the shoe uppers can be separated until the loops-l9 have decreased in the length to the distance between the center eyelets.

It is evident from the above description when taken in connection with the drawing that shoes provided with the lacing herein shown and described can be tightened or loosened very quickly by the use of one hand. Since knots are not employed in any of the embodiments shown, the trouble of tieing knot-s is, of course, dispensed with and the danger that may result from a shoe lace accidentally becoming untied is. also avoided.

When laces made in accordance with this invention are properly adjusted in the beginning.

the adjustment remains throughout the life of the shoe. It is apparent from Figure 2 and Figmod ,that the arrangement shown can be utilized to give a high degree of ornamentation.

Attention is directed to one construction common to all of the forms illustrated, namely, that the laces in each instance are endless. In Figures 1, 2- and 4, the lace loops are endless and deformable, the distance between the contiguous flaps being adjusted by changing the shape of the loops.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 3, the ends of the laces are connected by stitching, or otherwise to the tongue which interconnects them to form an endless lace. Instead of fastening the ends to the tongue, the lace may pass from llb to He on the inside of thetongue and the ends sewed or otherwise interconnected so as to form an endless lace. The movement of the tongues in Figures 1 to 4 distorts the lace loops and change the distance between the flaps and with the embodiment illustrated in Figure 5 the distortion of loop portions l9 produce the adjustment.

In the drawing the closure has been shown as applied to several different types of shoes, but itis to be understood that it is not limited to the type shown and applicant contemplates employing several closures for specifically different types of shoes, including galoshes.

The laces shown in the drawings have been so shown that they form complete. loops. It is, of

course, immaterial how the ends of the laces are interconnected. They may be connected by suitable connectors designed for this purpose, or by stitching or in any other desired manner. Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. In a shoe having an upper terminating in contiguous flaps provided along their opposed edges with a plurality of eyelets arranged in opposed relation, means interconnecting the flaps for changing the distance between them, said means comprising a single lace threaded through all the eyelets, the ends of the lace being joined to form an endless lace loop, portions of the lace lying within the row of eyelets being straight when the flaps are at their maximum distance apart, each flap having an anchor device positioned exteriorly of the eyelets, whereby when said straight portions of the lace are moved out of straight line and engaged with an anchor device the distance between the flaps will be decreased.

2. In a, shoe having an upper terminating in contiguous flaps provided along their opposed edges with a plurality of eyelets arranged in opposed relation, means interconnecting the flaps for changing the distance between them, said means comprising a single lace threaded through all the eyelets, the ends of the lace being joined to form an endless lace loop, portions of the lace lying within the row of eyelets being straight when the flaps are at their maximum distance apart, at least one flap having an anchor device positioned exteriorly of the eyelets, whereby when said straight portions of the lace are moved out of straight line and engaged with an anchor device the distance between the flaps will be decreased.

HAYDEN NICHOLS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

I UNITED STATES PATENTS 

